Travelers Names Chief Of Finance

Travelers Names Foley To Top Financial Post

Ronald E. Foley Jr. was named chief financial officer of Travelers Corp. on Monday, replacing Thomas O. Thorsen, who will continue as a vice chairman.

Also, Dale S. Hammond was named senior vice president of property-casualty personal lines, replacing Foley in that role.

Foley, 46, will report to Thorsen, 60, who had been chief financial officer since 1984. Thorsen, who was elected one of three Travelers vice chairmen in February 1990, will continue on the company's board of directors.

Foley's promotion is another in a series of high-level executive changes at Travelers, which seem to be part of a natural management succession, analysts say.

"There's a changing of the guard at Travelers," said Denis J. Callaghan, analyst with Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. in Baltimore. Travelers Chairman Edward H. Budd seems to have positioned some good people, Callaghan said.

Travelers promoted Richard H. Booth to president and chief operating officer in February, and most analysts consider him Budd's heir apparent.

In June, Travelers said it was replacing Richard J. Shima, chief investment officer, vice chairman and board member, with Robert W. Crispin from Lincoln National Corp.

Foley, a certified public accountant, joined Travelers in 1972 and assumed increasingly senior finance and operating positions. In 1984, he was named vice president in the corporate finance department and in 1987, he transferred to the Agency Marketing Group as a senior vice president and chief financial officer.

In 1990, Foley assumed full operating responsibility for personal lines when the group became a unit within Travelers' Insurance Operations segment.

Travelers credits Foley with leading the turnaround of its personal lines business -- mostly auto and homeowners' insurance. The business posted $18 million of net income in the first nine

months of this year, compared with a $22 million net loss for the comparable 1990 period.

The turnaround, Budd said, occurred during one of the industry's most challenging times. He said, "Our complex finance work is equally challenging, and we will be well served with the addition of Ron Foley's broad experience in both finance and line operations."

Analysts described Foley's advancement as a natural evolution, not a negative comment on Thorsen's performance.

Because Thorsen is older than Budd, who is 58, analysts have not considered Thorsen as a potential successor. Thorsen was senior vice president and chief financial officer of General Electric Co. before joining Travelers in 1984.

Hammond, 44, who now heads Travelers' personal lines, will report to Booth. Hammond joined the company in 1970 as a personal lines underwriter. Moving up through the ranks, he was named vice president in 1988, responsible for the personal lines underwriting and marketing division.